


The Talk Around Town

by runawaywithcakex



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/M, Fluff, M/M, POV Outsider, Pack Dynamics, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 13:01:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29207787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/runawaywithcakex/pseuds/runawaywithcakex
Summary: If only the pack was a bit better at keeping secrets. Maybe then the whole town wouldn’t think they were quite so odd.*aka Overheard Beacon Hills
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Lydia Martin/Jackson Whittemore, Vernon Boyd/Erica Reyes
Comments: 13
Kudos: 195





	The Talk Around Town

When Samantha decided to work at Moonrise Bakery and Cafe six months ago, she absolutely dreaded getting saddled with an early shift. Nevertheless, as a college student with oddly timed classes, she found herself getting stuck on the opening shift more often than she would have liked. Not surprisingly, 7am was just not the best time for her brain to be working at full speed. 

The door to the coffee shop opens, letting a cool burst of morning air into the toasty cafe. Two customers rush up to the register and Samantha readies herself by the cash register, consciously arranging her hair around her shoulders and rubbing away the sleep in her eyes. Before she can greet the customers, one of them speaks.

“Hi, could I have coffee with almond milk and one pump of hazelnut? For Lydia,” says a girl with sharp eyes and a stunning red lip. Despite her slight grogginess, Samantha can’t help but think that no one should look that put together at this early an hour. Next to her is a lanky guy with an ugly graphic t-shirt. Samantha recognizes it as advertising a band her ex-boyfriend had been fond of. 

“Anything for you?” Samantha says, glancing at the guy with music bad taste. 

“Something with lots of caffeine, please,” he replies, sagging slightly against the counter. It’s clear to see who the morning person is between these two. “Ooh, and caramel. And whipped cream?”

Samantha dutifully takes their order and writes their names on two cups labeling them Lydia and Stiles. She watches as the duo make their way towards a table. As they walk away she notices the guy, Stiles, poke Lydia. She takes it without comment but she does seem to shove him back a little bit. “This had better taste amazing, Lyds,” Stiles says with a huff. “After dealing with that brownie attack the only things that will keep me awake are a combination of a caffeine rush and sugar high. I swear I almost lost a tooth last night.”

While Samantha fails to see how more sugar could compensate for what seemed like a fairly wild dessert extravaganza, far be it for her to judge. She’d woken up with some goldfish stuck to her face that morning anyway.

The two have been talking quietly while they wait for the drinks, with Stiles slowly waking up and getting more animated. In comparison, Lydia becomes increasingly exasperated as Stiles seemed to latch onto a faulty point regarding their confectionary adventures. She keeps flicking her hair over her shoulder and drumming her nails on the wooden table. Samantha reminds herself to stop staring and actually get the orders instead of staring like a creep. Once the drinks are made, Samantha calls their names and Stiles comes up to the counter to get the order. “Thanks,” he tells Samantha. “You have no idea how much I need this.”

“No problem,” Samantha says, offering him a hesitant smile. “I hope you don’t get a stomach ache, though, if you were dealing with all those brownies last night. This is kind of like a dessert in of itself.” 

Stiles looks at her, cocking his head. Then he starts laughing. “Oh, you overheard that?” he says, fishing through his wallet and dropping some coins in the tip jar. “Well, between you and me, it was a very… unsavory experience.” He laughs at his own joke, picks up the two drinks, and goes back to sit with Lydia.

Samantha sighs before collecting herself and greeting the next customer in line, not quite knowing what to think. Although she doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth herself she is quite fond of puns. 

*

Alex’s least favorite people to see during his shifts at the Beacon Hills Ice Cream Emporium are the ones who can never decide on what to get. They stand at the cash register, hold up the line, and yap to themselves or their companions or—worst of all—at Alex himself. More often than not people want to try a flavor, which is fine, or five flavors, which was most definitely not. 

So, when a party of three comes crashing into the Emporium, two of them talking a mile a minute, Alex’s heart sinks. They’re going to take forever to order. Alex silently curses his decision to even work here. He should have opted for a job that involved less customer service and more solitude. He could have worked at the local veterinary clinic, maybe. There was another vet assistant there, a cute guy named Scott. A cute guy and cute animals had to be better than whatever this job entailed.

Alex stares at them shamelessly as they enter, knowing they are too distracted by each other to bother noticing much of him. The three customers are quite an odd-looking group. There’s a blonde girl with impressively long, manicured nails, a guy with too much product in his hair, and another guy who looks like he’d rather do anything other than listen to his two companions. 

The girl orders first. Her name is Erica and she wants a double scoop of black sesame ice cream and blood orange sorbet. Definitely an odd combo, but at least she’s decisive. When Alex asks her if she wants to pay separately or together, she snickers and pats the guy with the fancy hair. “No, Jackson will definitely be paying for all three of us,” she says, eyeing Jackson in a way that leaves no room for confusion. “After being so two-faced this week it’s the least he could do.” 

Jackson splutters a bit, but Alex suspects it’s mostly for form’s sake. If this one interaction is anything to go by, Erica seems to be very good at getting what she wants and Jackson seems a bit spineless in comparison. Quite frankly, Alex doesn't blame him. 

Alex asks the other two what they want. “I’ll have one scoop coffee in a cone, with rainbow sprinkles,” says the guy who is Not Jackson. “For Boyd,” he adds, predicting Alex’s next question. Alex decides that he likes Boyd. A man of few words is someone he can definitely respect.

The last person, dear old Jackson, is the one who takes the longest. He samples the store’s black raspberry, the goat cheese and turmeric, the walnut maple, and the salty buttermilk streak ice creams. All of the fanciest flavors, naturally, Alex thinks dryly, even though his personal favorite is the goat cheese and turmeric. 

While Alex is pretty sure he would have been annoyed by him no matter what, Erica’s contact nagging commentary definitely furthers that process. “Jackson, who knew you were such a fussy ice cream eater,” she says. “I don’t even know why you’re crashing my date with Boyd.” 

“Derek told me I needed to go out with someone who isn’t my girlfriend,” Jackson replies gloomily as he sucks on a sampler spoon. “Apparently I need to establish stronger bonds with more people for everyone’s sake and sanity.” Jackson adds air quotes to the last part, as if it wasn’t obvious. With a sinking feeling, Alex notices Jackson eyeing the white chocolate with heath bar crunch, tucked away in the back where it's nice and difficult for Alex to reach. 

“So you had to go out with mine?” Boyd says with an eyeroll. Erica smirks and clutches his arm delightedly. 

Jackson shoots Boyd a glare and turns to Alex, pulling out his wallet. “Hey, at least I’m paying for you,” he grumbles. With a touch of surprise, Alex notices there’s a massive rip down the middle of the expensive accessory. It almost looks like it was made from a claw, like a large lizard. This guy seems pretty uptight and doesn’t seem like the type to keep animals, but people are unpredictable. 

Alex glances up when Jackson clears his throat. “Could I have the French Vanilla?” he asks.

*

Working at a fancy thrift shop in Beacon Hills is a very odd job to have, Cassie thinks. First off, Beacon Hills seems like it's just too small to need a fancy thrift shop at all. Nevertheless, this store had been her grandmother’s back in the day so when she had died Cassie took up the mantle. 

Gemma’s Gems is a silly name, but Cassie is too attached to it to bother changing it to something else. The store gets just enough traffic to stay open but not so much that Cassie is on her feet all day. She’s able to spend plenty of time nestled in the nook by the cash register, enjoy the sunshine from the big windows at the front of the store, and scroll through whatever the latest celebrity gossip is.

The soft clink of a bell signals to Cassie that there’s a new customer, and she glances up to see an impressively fit man enter, his ear pressed to his phone and a frown on his face.

“Yes Stiles, I know,” the man says to the person on the other end. What the hell is a Stiles? Cassie sits up straighter and leans forward to listen more keenly. “I’m at the store right now, I need a new jacket.” A pause. “No, that’s not where I always get them. I just saw this place and thought it could be good.” Pause. “Okay, I’ll call you later.” 

Cassie looks at the man and pastes a Customer Service Smile on. “Hi,” she says brightly. “I’m Cassie, please let me know if there’s anything I can help you find. Are you looking for anything in particular?” Cassie has high hopes for this customer. If he gets jackets pretty frequently, like he said to whoever it was on the call, then there’s a decent chance he’ll walk away with a purchase today. People in Beacon Hills don’t usually have that much disposable income, but she isn’t going to complain.

The man looks surprised to see Cassie talk. “Hi, I’m looking for a leather jacket,” he says. “My old one got busted up.” 

Cassie nods sympathetically. Losing a favorite piece of clothing was always a bummer. “Sure,” she says, and guides the man to a rack towards the back. “Here you go. We have a few different sizes and styles for you to look through, Mr.—?” Cassie trails off. 

The customer looks uncomfortable. “Um, call me Derek,” he says. “Thanks.” Well, that’s that, Cassie thinks a bit ruefully. She thinks he's attractive and she wouldn’t have minded getting to chat with him a bit but it's extremely obvious that he's not the chatty sort. Cassie turns and heads back towards her nook. 

A few minutes later, Derek emerges from the clothing racks and drops two items in front of Cassie. One is a beautiful leather jacket, black with sleek blue lining. The other is a wide green headband with little wolves printed on the fabric. Cassie can’t help but be surprised by the purchase. Derek doesn't really strike her as old enough to have a kid to give this to, and it’s a little too young looking to give to a girlfriend or wife. Maybe for a niece or a much younger cousin? Or himself, Cassie supposes, with a little reminder to herself. She really has to stop reading those judgey fashion columns especially.

Derek notices her reaction and glances down. “That was my sister's,” he mutters. Cassie feels her eyes soften and immediately feels a twist of guilt in her chest. This headband carries more sentiment than she had expected and in spite of herself, she finds herself wondering what exactly happened to Derek’s sister.

“Oh,” Cassie says, at a loss for words. “It’s cute.” The words seem hollow even to her. The headband really is cute, just more in a 10-years-ago way. “Thanks for shopping at Gemma’s Gems. Please come back any time,” she says instead of digging herself an even deeper hole. “Both those items are great finds.”

Derek nods and leaves the shop, treasures packed away safely in a bag clutched tightly in his left hand. Cassie watches him go and lets out a sigh, sagging against the wall. I really need to work on my customer service, Cassie thinks, chagrined. Then she brightens. Maybe Derek will need another new jacket sometime and she can redeem herself.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> I'm considering continuing this in the same style but tbd


End file.
